Just Another High School Fic
by Atlantic Jewel
Summary: It’s another highschool fic at Konoha High, with all the regulars of dating, wanting to date, best friends, best enemies, music, shopping, jobs, terrorists and a bunch of storms. Okay, maybe it’s not just another high school fic...Pairings. OCC’s.
1. Bad Hair Day:Good Grades

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Bad Hair Day - Good Grades

Ino Yamanaka woke up on Monday morning, and groaned. Ino, a year ten girl at Konoha High, _hated_ Mondays almost as much as she hated breaking a nail. She had been out on the weekends, partying like there was no tomorrow but, unfortunately, tomorrow had come, and here she was, lying in bed on a Monday morning, waiting for the inevitable...

"IIIIINOOOOO!!" Shouted the unmistakable voice of Chouji Akamichi from the front yard. "WAAAAAKE UUUUUP!!"

Ino rolled her light green eyes, and got out of bed. Walking across her bedroom in her royal purple pyjamas, Ino opened the window, leaned out and shouted: "CHOUJI, DO YOU KNOW WHAT _TIME_ IT IS!?" _Brr, it's cold._ Ino thought, watching hers and Chouji's breath come out in little white clouds. _I hate winter, I wish spring would come._

"YEAH!!" Chouji said, nodding enthusiastically so that the two baubles on either side of his knitted hat bounced up and down. He was wearing this in conjunction to his school uniform - black trousers, a white shirt, a black blazer with the school's red and white insignia on it, a red tie and black shoes. Ino didn't understand, even though Chouji weighed more then five year eights put together, how he could wear anything less then a down-coat, snow boots, mittens and a scarf.

"WELL THEN, WHAT TIME IS IT!?" Ino shouted, feeling like she was in a movie or something.

"EIGHT FIFTEEN!!" Chouji replied.

Ino shrieked, and glanced at her clock. Chouji was right. And, they were going to be late for school! "CHOUJI!! WAKE UP SHIKA AND LET'S GET A MOVE ON!!" Ino yelled, closing the window again as she heard Chouji yell something that sounded like: "FINALLY!!"

Ino didn't care though, as she took off her pyjamas and changed into her school uniform - a white blouse with a black collar and a red bandanna, a black blazer with the school's red and white insignia on it, a black pleated skirt, black stockings and black shoes.

To this she added her own accessories - a bright purple scarf and matching fur-lined gloves. Then she brushed her long blonde hair carefully and pulled it up into its usual ponytail. Glancing at herself in the hall mirror, Ino admired her purple accessories.

"Hmph," She scoffed to the mirror. "Imagine wearing pink. _Pink_." She added, and rolled her eyes. She ran downstairs and into the kitchen, where her Father and her Step-Mother were eating breakfast at the table.

"Ino, do not run, it's not lady-like." Victoria scoffed, and Ino bristled. Why must Victoria correct _everything_ Ino did!? "And why aren't you at school yet?" She added, as Ino grabbed a low-fat cupcake off of the counter.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there!" Ino replied, finishing the muffin in about five bites.

"Don't sass your Step-Mother, Ino." Inoichi told her.

"Yes Dad." Ino replied. It wasn't that she was trying to sass anybody, but she was gonna be late! She ran into the front hall, defying Victoria, and grabbed her bookbag off of the coat stand. "Bye Dad, see you after school!" She called, running out of the house and slamming the door shut behind her.

She could almost hear Victoria's scolding, but she didn't care because her two best friends were nowhere in sight!

"Ooh, it's cold..." Ino shivered, hopping up and down. She looked around her, then sighed, and ran across the street to where Shikamaru Nara's house was.

Chouji lived next door to Ino, and Shika lived across the street. It was the perfect plan for three best friends.

Ino hoped that she wouldn't have to wake up the lazy genius known as Shika, but she knew without a doubt, when she saw the look on Shikaku and Yoshino's faces, that she and Chouji had their work cut out for them.

Well, sighing, Ino rolled up her sleeves and began to climb the staircase...

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"Hey!! Sakura!!" Naruto Uzumaki ran full-pelt towards his childhood best friend, who immediately put her hands up in the sign of the cross.

"Whoa! Back Naruto, back I say!" Haruno Sakura cried, a terrified look in her soft green eyes. "If you get any closer to me, then we'll clash!" She added, eyeing Naruto's orange beanie and matching orange scarf and gloves.

Naruto stopped running, glanced at Sakura's pink scarf and gloves, not to mention her sugar-pink hair, and he burst out laughing. "Ha, ha, ha! Trust you Sakura to think of _that_!"

Sakura smiled, and said: "Is Sai here yet?"

"Yeah, I just saw him go into the science lab." Naruto replied, as the two of them began to walk into the school. "He said something about having to make up for missing his _dissection_ last Thursday."

"_His_ dissection?" Sakura repeated, raising an eyebrow. Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you might wanna rethink that Naruto." She added, as they walked into the school building, and the first person Sakura saw was there good friend, Hyuga Hinata.

Or, was it?

"Hinata!!" Sakura cried. "What _happened_ to your hair!?"

"Whoa!" Gasped a voice from behind them, and Hinata's sarcastic cousin Neji smirked when he saw Hinata's haircut. "Nice buzz cuz, what happen? Get into a fight with a lawn mower?"

Hinata's gentle white eyes filled with tears. Her usually beautiful raven-coloured hair now resembled that of a French-Poodle's. "H-H-Hanabi wanted to t-t-try a n-n-new hairc-c-cut..." She stammered, and Sakura's heart just went out to her.

"Oh sure," Neji smirked. "Blame it on your little sister!"

"At least she's _nice_ to her own family, Neji!" Naruto yelled, and Neji's smirk changed to a frown. His white eyes grew angry, and he stepped close up to Naruto.

"What did you say?" He asked Naruto, if his look wasn't Bayakugan then I dunno what it was!

"You heard me," Naruto said angrily, defending his crush's best friend. "And you..." Naruto stopped, because there was somebody standing behind Neji, somebody who _wouldn't_ want Naruto to continue, somebody who was both feared eternally and respected utmostly by the entire school...

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"Congratulations Sai." Mrs. Kurenai said, glancing at Sai's notes from his sheep eye dissection. "You have successfully brought your grade up from an A+ to an A+x2!"

Sai was positively glowing, but he maintained his coolness as he thanked Mrs. Kurenai for letting him complete the assessment. He left the science lab, turned the corner, and walked right into the middle of the world's biggest make-out session.

Sai stopped dead in his tracks, but the two lovers barely even noticed him. One was Shikamaru Nara, fellow genius and also the world's most lazy person. The other was his girlfriend, Temari Sabaku, who was two years ahead of both Sai and Shikamaru (and about half the main characters in this story), but the girl with the four sandy blonde spiky pigtails had been going steady with the year ten boy for about two years now.

Sai began backing away, and he backed into somebody, who let out a yelp, and that startled Temari and Shika out of their make-out.

"Shika!" Ino cried, after apologizing to Sai. "So _this_ is where you come after it takes me and Chouji _ten minutes_ to get you out of bed! ... Oh, good morning Temari."

"Morning Ino." Temari replied, undaunted by the fact that people had witnessed her and Shika kissing. The whole school knew about their relationship.

"What's wrong Ino?" Shika asked her calmly. "Where's Chouji?"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You needed to ask?" She replied. Then she added: "And as for what's wrong...Naruto Uzumaki just insulted Neji Hyuga..."

The others waited.

Ino said, dramatically: "_In front of Tenten!_"

Temari gasped.

Sai just sighed and shook his head.

And Shika groaned and said: "What a drag!"

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**MEG: So, how was THAT for a first chapter!?**

**NARUTO: YAYS!! I was IN the chapter! No more sitting in the dark for me! Hey, Meg-San, can I be in EVERY chapter!?**

**MEG: Ah…we'll see Naruto-Chan, we'll see…**


	2. The Best Friend:The Nice Boy

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

The Best Friend - The Nice Boy

Tenten's aura at eight-thirty in the morning was scary, much scarier then Neji's. Even he had to flinch when he saw her, standing there in a yellow scarf and a beanie with panda-ears, and glaring so fiercely at Naruto that he shrunk back.

"C-c-calm down T-t-tent-t-ten..." Hinata was the only one brave enough to stammer. "There's n-n-no harm d-d-done..."

"Of course," Tenten replied, the angry look leaving her dark brown eyes almost as soon as it had entered them. "I'm sorry, I just had an eighteen hour shift yesterday."

Neji, Hinata, Sakura, Naruto and Temari, Shika, Ino and Sai, who had come to watch, all nodded sympathetically. The whole school knew about Tenten's struggle to support herself, since she was an orphan and lived alone.

"Hey everybody..." Matsuri skipped into the school, but stopped when she sensed the bitter tension. "Umm, okay, who died?"

Sakura giggled, and the tension was broken. "No one died Matsuri, but Naruto almost did!"

Matsuri glanced from Naruto, to Neji, to Tenten, and said: "Oh, I see."

"Seen Garaa yet?" Ino suddenly asked her, grinning. Everyone knew about Matsuri's crush on Temari's youngest brother.

Matsuri grinned too. "No, but I'm about to. He said to meet me at his locker before homeroom, so I'd better go."

"Yes, you'd better." Neji said, meaning that _everyone_ had better go. He wanted to be alone, with Tenten, to talk to her about something.

Namely where their friendship was heading. He wasn't sure if he _wanted_ it to head anywhere, because he already had someone else he liked.

He hoped Tenten would understand.

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Matsuri met Garaa by his locker, just as planned.

She just loved everything about Garaa, from his spiky blood-coloured hair to his jade green orbs, and the red tattoo on his forehead. He was perfect, even though she knew he really wasn't. He had a temper problem, which could turn violent, but a few things had helped to change that for the better. One was Matsuri. Another was Garaa's siblings and Matsuri's foster sister. Another was their band, the Sand Vibes. Another was the good grades Garaa was getting in music and art.

Anyway, Garaa was waiting for Matsuri, and he said, as soon as she'd reached him: "I have a survey I need to get people to fill out for music. Can you hand these out (in our homeroom only) and get people to return to them by lunchtime?" He handed her a stack of white papers, and left.

Matsuri sighed. Garaa could be so cold sometimes, but nobody could really blame him. She certainly didn't.

Well, the least she could do was fulfil his request, and hand out these surveys. She didn't even look at them, and just took them into homeroom and started handing them out.

"Thanks." Said Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Ino, Chouji, Shika, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata and Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Mari, Kai, Musha and Mushi.

Hoshi didn't say anything, but that was usual for the violet-eyed goth.

Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi and Dosu Kinuta also didn't say anything, but that was because they were too busy discussing their own music assignment. Something about performing, and could they maybe get Dosu's twin sister Ai and their foster sister Sore Kaguya to perform with them, even though they were in a different music class? Matsuri handed the surveys to the two girls as well, and then went to sit by her friends.

"Garaa," She said, sitting down beside him. "There weren't enough surveys for Emma, Kankurou and Temari."

"That's okay, we already filled ours out last night." Temari supplied, watching as her brother, Kankurou, furiously scribbled something onto a piece of paper. "Umm, Kankurou? What's wrong?"

"I...can't..." He muttered, angrily scratching something out on the scrappy-looking piece of paper. "Get...the...right...words!"

"For what?" Temari asked, peering over his shoulder at the title, which seemed to be the only thing he could agree on. "Poem For Emma? Kankurou, are you _still_ trying to..." She trailed off, leaning back in her chair and sighing. As a big sister, she tried her hardest to know what her two younger brothers were thinking. With Garaa this could be hard, but with Kankurou, one thing was becoming increasingly certain. He had a crush on Matsuri's foster sister, Emma. And, he was having trouble telling her so.

Matsuri had noticed it too. "Kankurou, why don't you just _tell_ her?" She asked, glancing at Garaa as she said this. Did he know she liked him?

Kankurou finally looked up, his golden brown eyes looked startled. "_T-tell_ her!?" He exclaimed. "I can't just _tell_ her! She'll think I'm insane!"

"I already do." Said a voice from behind Kankurou, and he let out a scream, before crunching up his piece of paper (not that anyone could read it anyway) and turning around, to find the short, year eleven girl Emma smiling at him. Even though Emma and Matsuri weren't blood-related, there were similarities between the two girls. Both were small (like Garaa) with short dark brown hair. Matsuri's eyes were dark brown, and Emma's were hazel, but the two girls also had another similarity. They could sing better then almost anyone, except maybe Sore, Hoshi, Sakura, Neji, Kankurou (when the mood took him) and Zaku (also another very rare case).

"E-Emma!" Kankurou gasped. "Don't _do_ that!"

"Do _what_ Kanky?" Emma grinned, and sat down in her seat. She was the only one who got away with calling him that, no one else on earth ever _could_. Kankurou (Kanky!) would kill them.

"Sneak up on people like that, namely _me_!" Kankurou said, wishing actually that she would _keep_ on doing that.

"But it's so much fun!" Emma replied. _Yes!_ Kankurou thought. "Also, there's a new kid..." She added, and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

She rolled her eyes, as their teacher, Mr. Kakashi came into the classroom, and someone was following him.

"Class," Kakashi began. "We have a new..."

But, he was cut off by Naruto screaming: "NOOOO!!" And Sakura and Ino both screaming: "YAAAAY!!" Before glaring at each other.

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"For God's sake, you've gotta tell me!" Temari cried.

She, Emma, Matsuri, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Kin, Mari, Hoshi, Musha, Mushi, Sore and Ai were standing around in the girls bathroom (the bathrooms are BIG) and talking. Temari was annoyed because she wanted to know what was the big deal with this new student, Sasuke Uchiha (who _was_ kinda cute...but that's not the point!). She, Emma and Matsuri had still lived in Suna during primary school, so none of them knew this onyx-eyed hottie.

But, the other girls did, and most of them were only too eager to share what they knew.

"Sasuke Uchiha was only the most popular guy at Konoha Primary School!" Ino sighed, as she carefully applied her mascara.

"But?" Matsuri prompted.

"He left." Sakura said, evasively.

"Why?" Temari wanted to know.

Ino and Tenten exchanged a glance, Sakura and Hinata exchanged a glance, Hoshi and Kin exchanged a glance, and Musha and Mushi exchanged a glance.

"What!?" The usually calm Emma cried, finally getting frustrated.

"We're not allowed to say." Ino said finally, returning to her mascara. "The primary school made us all swear to secrecy."

"So, you mean Shika may know?" Temari asked innocently.

"He _does_ know," Tenten replied. "But, he can't tell you. Not without Sasuke's okay, and _that's_ never gonna happen."

"Well I wanna know!" Matsuri exclaimed.

"You'll find out, one day." Musha assured her, standing on tiptoe to see the mirror (she's really short).

Ai rolled her dark eyes. "Don't count on it. Anyway, come on, we've got class."

And they all trooped out into the hallway, and straight into the middle of a fight.

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Naruto stood back, panting hard, as blood trickled down his chin.

Sasuke glared back at him, feeling a blood nose coming on. "You haven't changed a bit you bastard!" Sasuke growled.

"Likewise!" Naruto replied, and lunged at Sasuke again.

Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm, and Ino grabbed Sasuke around the waist.

"For God's sake!" Tenten shouted. "How many more times will we have to break up a fight between you two blockheads!?"

Naruto and Sasuke both glared at each other.

"I mean it!" Tenten yelled. "You two haven't grown up a bit!"

_Poor Naruto._ Hinata thought. _I hope he's okay..._ She wished _she'd_ been the one to grab hold of the Uzumaki child.

Tenten looked thoroughly pissed off. "That's it!" She yelled, in her most commanding voice (seriously, she could be an army officer if she wanted to be one!). "I want everyone to get to class _now_! Sakura, you and Hinata walk Naruto to the front office. Ino, you and Emma walk Sasuke up there." Everyone on earth knew how tough Emma was, and that _no one_ could stand up to her (it came from living a tough life on the streets as a child). Poor Sasuke wouldn't stand a chance! "Now," Tenten added, addressing the crowd. 'Did anyone actually see what happened _before_ the punches started rolling?"

"I did." Kankurou and Neji said in unison. They exchanged a glare.

Tenten was too angry to notice it. "Well then, both of you can go. Everyone else, to class!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Everyone said.

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"Oh for God's sake." Principal Tsunade sighed, quoting Tenten, when she saw who had been fighting. "Not you two again..." She added.

Tsunade was very good friends with the principal of Konoha Primary School.

"Naruto probably started it." Tenten said.

Hinata glanced at Ino.

"All's innocent until proven guilty." Emma said calmly.

"_Exactly_." Kankurou smiled at her.

Neji rolled his eyes.

Sakura was glaring at Ino.

Tsunade noticed all of this. And, she had a plan.

But, it would have to wait awhile.

First order of business was to get those two misfits cleaned up.

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**MEG: So, what do you think Tsunade has planned? Will Naruto and Sasuke EVER get along?**

**Not in THIS fan fic they won't!**


	3. The Student Body:The Teacher’s Pet

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

The Student Body - The Teacher's Pet

"Did you hear him Sakura? _Did_ you?" Kankurou rarely ever spoke to the pink haired Haruno. But today was different. Something had just come to meet his attention.

Sakura sighed. "_Yes_, Kankurou, for the ten billionth time now can you PLEASE let me go to class!?" She yelled, and even Kankurou looked a little bit startled.

"Umm, right, okay..." He let her go, but continued to stew about things as he went to maths class, where Emma had saved him a seat, and then IT HAPPENED.

Their teacher, Mr. Asuma, took the attendance, and then he announced: "As you know, this is extended maths class."

Kankurou and Emma exchanged a smile. They'd both studied hard to get where they were.

"Well, I am pleased to announce that a student from year ten has been invited to join this class," Mr. Asuma said. "Because he has - to put it in words you'll all understand - become too smart for the year ten extended maths class..."

Emma turned to Kankurou, and said: "I wonder who it is! Maybe it's Shika!"

Kankurou nodded. "Or it could be Sai."

Mushi turned around and said: "It could be a girl you know."

"I bet it's not." Emma said , grinning. "Well, I _hope_ it's not."

_WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL DOES __**THAT**__ MEAN!!_ Kankurou wondered, staring at Emma in confusion, although she was too busy talking to Mushi to notice it.

He flinched when the two girls started giggling, but they shut up when the door opened.

Maybe YOU already know what's about to happen, but Kankurou nearly had a heart attack when into the classroom walked NEJI HYUGA.

Enter Dragnet. Dum-de-dum-dum...

_NO NO NO NO NO!!_ Kankurou screamed in his head, sounding like Flamo in Master Raindrop.

Mushi smiled, and so did most of the class.

Emma, however, just looked shocked. _I...didn't mean...it's...Neji..._

Neji's gaze moved around the class, and landed on Emma.

_And now...he's looking...at...me...KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!_

Kankurou looked at Emma strangely, and she hoped she hadn't screamed out loud, as Neji sat down across the classroom.

_Thank God._ Thought Kankurou. _Usually in these situations, he's sitting right next to her..._

"Oh shit!" Neji suddenly cried. "Mr. Asuma, I forgot my glasses!"

"That's okay Neji," Mr. Asuma said. "Just switch placed with...Kankurou."

_NO NO NO NO NO!!_

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"Temari, what's wrong with your brother?" Sakura asked her.

"Which one?" Temari asked, as they walked away from the lunchroom.

Sakura laughed. "Both, usually, but this time I meant Kankurou. He's been pissed off since..."

"Since Neji's been moved to the year elevens extended maths class and is sitting right next to Emma." Mari popped up out of nowhere, a bundle of energy with blonde hair and a tattoo to match Garaa's.

"Yeah, I know." Temari sighed.

They were just about to walk somewhere warm - like the library, for a gossip session - when Chouji jumped out of nowhere and cried: "Snowball fight!!"

Mari gasped happily, and grabbed Sakura and Temari's hands. "Come on, let's go!" They started running.

Snowball fights at Konoha High were always fun.

"We didn't have snow in Suna," Temari recalled, as they picked up a few more students along the way. "But I sure do love it, it's so much fun!"

"Only because you buried Kankurou last winter!" Matsuri was one of the students they'd picked up, as well as Garaa (yes, Garaa was running). "Then turned him into a snowman!"

"Hey, it was funny." Temari shrugged, as they came outside into their winter wonderland.

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Students were already running around, building walls of snow to hide behind, throwing snowballs, rescuing comrades from no-mans-land.

"Matsuri," Emma shouted when she saw her. "Garaa, Temari, come join our team!"

"Sakura, Mari, come on!" Naruto shouted, and Kai waved them over.

"See ya!" Temari grinned, and ran over to the 'Red' Team.

Soon she, Matsuri and Garaa were chucking snowballs, and dodging enemy snowballs.

Matsuri was thrilled to notice how much fun Garaa was having. The surveys must've been a big success. She was glad.

Temari was also on the same team as Shika, and the two of them made a great team. Shika would make the snowballs, and Temari would throw them. Like Kin, she played pitcher on softball teams and had developed an arm. Kin pitched because Kin had a mean pitch.

Kankurou was also on the team, and there was something bugging him.

Neji, who was on the 'Blue' Team, seemed to be targeting Emma. She was getting pretty good at dodging, but Kankurou knew that if she got hit, she'd become a part of the Blue Team.

_No way._ Kankurou thought. He knew he couldn't target Neji, because then Neji would become a member of their team. Kankurou was so busy thinking about this, that he yelped when a snowball hit his left shoulder.

Uh oh...

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Sakura was watching somebody at the corner of the school yard. It was Sasuke, and he was all by himself, not doing anything, just watching the snowball fight.

Sakura called to Naruto: "Cover me!" And then ran as fast as she could out of cover of the snow-wall, dodging a few snowballs, until she reached the spot where Sasuke was standing.

Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him behind a tree.

"-Hey!" He protested.

"Otherwise we'll _both_ be hit!" Sakura told him.

Sasuke folded his arms, and said: "Sakura, don't tell me the whole school still takes part in these stupid snowball fights..."

"_Not_ the whole school." She corrected him.

They both looked out from behind the tree, and watched as three girls walked across the no-mans-land.

It was Hoshi, Musha and Mushi.

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If the three girls were super villains, then Hoshi was the mastermind and Musha and Mushi were her side-kicks.

Mushi was tall, with springy dark brown hair and dark eyes. Musha was very short, with long fox-coloured hair and bright green eyes.

Hoshi, however, was in a league all her own. She had long black hair and violet eyes, and wore her eyeliner too heavy. She was gothic, punk and about a zillion other things, probably even _Satanic_... (Scary!).

She was also a teacher's pet.

"Hold it!" She cried.

All movement stopped, but one stray snowball came flying and hit Hoshi on the back. She spun around.

"Who threw that!?" She barked.

Everyone pointed at Naruto.

He gasped. "H-hey, that's not t-true!"

"Oh yes it is, don't lie Naruto!" Ino cried.

Hoshi gave Naruto a long, level look, which he returned by looking cross.

Finally, Hoshi flipped her long hair over her shoulder, and sniffed. "The bell is about to ring, and we have an assembly after recess." She gave Naruto a last glare, and then turned to go.

"Fine," Someone called. "Just let us finish our snowball fight!"

"But I'll be back!" Hoshi warned them.

She turned around.

Sasuke suddenly picked up a snowball, and hurtled it at Hoshi.

It hit her in the back of the head.

"OW!!" She complained.

Everyone else looked at Sasuke, who was smiling.

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"Okay students," Tsunade said, as the whole school sat in for the assembly. "Settle down, I have just three announcements. Okay, first item today...ah, yes, has everyone handed in their forms?"

There were grumbles and groans from the audience, people said things such as: "Already!?" And: "I did!" And: "I lost mine..."

Tsunade waited for everyone to settle down, and then she said: "Okay, well, they're due in on Thursday. Now, next...oh, Tuesday night's plastic corrosion awareness clinic was - I think - a big success, and we wanna thank Mr. Koharu, for putting that on for us, thank you Mr. Koharu!"

"You're welcome." The teacher said, as everyone else clapped and cheered.

"Okay," Tsunade said. "And, lastly, snowball fights have been banned indefinitely, ah so..."

"WHAT!?" Shouted Naruto, as almost the entire audience started screaming. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!"

"YEAH, HE'S RIGHT, THAT _ISN'T_ FAIR!!" Sakura yelled.

"WE WANT THE SNOWBALL FIGHTS!!" Kiba started chanting, and the rest of the school (almost all of it) joined in. "WE WANT THE SNOWBALL FIGHTS!!"

"Oh boy, _this_ looks like trouble..." Said Kakashi.

The raucous went on for a few more minutes, until Tsunade positively screamed: "THAT'S ENOUGH!! NO MORE SNOWBALL FIGHTS AND _THAT'S FINAL_!! DO I MAKE MYSELF _CLEAR_!!"

Nobody said a word.

"_I SAID DO I MAKE MYSELF __**CLEAR**_!!" Tsunade shrieked.

"Yes Ma'am!" Everyone cried.

"Damn." Muttered Naruto.

Tsunade frowned. "I heard someone say damn...and I _will_ find out who!"

"No you won't!" Naruto called.

"Yes, I will."

"Won't..."

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**MEG: I don't live in a place that GETS snow, so I dunno what it's supposed to be like… :(**


	4. The MakeUp Artist:The Mean Girl

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

The Make-Up Artist - The Mean Girl

Just because they weren't allowed to protest about it, didn't mean the students weren't going to complain amongst themselves about the snowball fight ban.

"It's only going to be for another few weeks or so, until winter runs out." Ino complained to Chouji and Shika (well, Shika was asleep).

"Runs out?" Chouji laughed, unwrapping a chocolate bar. "You make it sound like hot water, Ino!"

"Which is what the person who talked Tsunade into this is gonna be in!" Kai said. Kai was a tall, tan-skinned boy with short dark hair and almond shaped eyes. He was best friends with Mari, and they were good friends with Ino, Shika and Chouji. They were sitting on the benches outside of C3 and C4. Kai had English in C3, and the others had S&E in C4 (Kai was in year twelve).

Temari walked up, humming _Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man_ by Sheryl Crow And The Dixie Chicks. She stopped humming, however, when she noticed the others grim faces. "Okay, I guess the ban has been met with..."

"Pissed off attitudes." Kiba swaggered up (he was also in C4 for S&E). "Guess what guys."

"What?" Mari asked.

"I know who asked Tsunade to ban snowball fights." Kiba said superiorly.

"Who!?" Everyone within a ten foot radius shrieked.

"Hoshi."

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"If only Sasuke hadn't thrown that snowball at her." News sure traveled fast at Konoha High, and Zaku was talking to his friends about it. Zaku's friends were Dosu, Kin, Sore and Ai. "That bitch wouldn't have..."

"Wait," Kin interrupted him, and Zaku frowned. He hated being interrupted. Dosu, for some reason, was humming _My Vision_ by Seal. He kept on glancing at Sore, from within his bandages. Dosu was burnt in a terrible fire when he was younger, and now he wore the bandages to hide them. His nickname is Mummy's Boy. He hates it. "Who are we blaming? Hoshi, or Sasuke?"

"Both." Zaku grumbled. Zaku loved snowball fights, and now he'd have to wait until next winter to have them. Maybe Tsunade would never lift the ban! The thought was too unbearable for him to consider!

They were in music class, waiting for their teacher, Ms. Anko, to get back. She was happy when she came back, and for Anko that's scary. "Class," She said. "I just found out there is going to be a battle of the bands, at the beginning of spring sometime."

"Yahoo!" Zaku cheered, as everyone else in their year ten music class started cheering too. Music was one of many things that united the entire school (it used to be snowball fights too) and this class especially loved music. Zaku, Dosu, Kin, Ai and Sore _especially_. Sore and Ai were singers, Dosu played drums, Kin was a bassist and Zaku was a guitarist. They were in a band, called The Sound Ninjas (!).

"Also, I just found out," Anko went on. "That two of the bands competing are The Song Birds..."

"Ha, no competition there." Zaku smirked, and Ai grinned. The Song Birds were made up of Hoshi, Musha, Mushi, Kiba and Shino. The Sand Ninja's knew they'd have no trouble beating those losers.

"And, The Sand Vibes."

"Oh." Zaku said.

Temari, Kankurou, Garaa, Matsuri and Emma.

Now, that _would_ be a problem...

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"Here Hinata," Sakura finished fixing Hinata's hair. "There, done. I just hope Hanabi doesn't mind."

"Don't worry, she won't." Hinata replied confidently, admiring her latest hairstyle. "Thanks Sakura." She added, and they left the girls bathroom. "What have you got now?"

"RE." Sakura replied, referring to Religious Education, where the students learnt about Jashin (I had to pick something! Konoha High students can't learn about _God_! I think maybe they learn about how strange Jashinity is...) "You?"

"Same, 'cept I have Mr. Hidan." Hinata shuddered, referring to the school's _only_ Jashinist.

"Good luck." Sakura said sympathetically, as they parted ways at the T-junction in the hallway.

Along the way, Sakura ran into Sasuke, who was on his way to the library for study.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called.

Sasuke turned around, but didn't say anything as Sakura ran up to greet him.

"Hey, Sasuke, I'm glad I ran into you!" Sakura began, breathlessly, but Sasuke cut him off.

"Why?" He asked her. "So you can blame me for what happened with that whole snowball fight thing? Forget it, snowball fights are stupid." And he left, walking away and leaving Sakura speechless and more then a little bit upset.

"Nice going, billboard brow." Said a voice from behind her.

Sakura immediately glowered, and retorted: "Shut up, little Ino pig!"

Ino stepped up to Sakura, and said: "I still haven't forgotten how you tried to lure Sasuke in back in primary school! You little sneak!"

"All's fair in love and war!" Sakura snapped back.

Chouji was walking around the corner of the hallway with Lee and Shino, but he doubled back with a: "_Whoa_..." When he sensed a bitch fight, dragging Lee and Shino with him. (Chouji sounded like Stewie Griffen).

"Just remember," Ino told Sakura. "That the winner is the first one to take Sasuke Uchiha, got it!?"

"Understood, you little termite." Sakura responded angrily.

Ino smirked. "Hey, am I a termite or a pig?"

"Both." Sakura grumbled.

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But, as it turned out, Sasuke had something quite different on his mind. Well, sort of. He had three items on his return to Konoha agenda this year.

Number one, was find out the name of that cute girl in The Sand Vibes band, the one with brown eyes.

Number two, was to establish a name for himself, something better then Sasuke The Traitor.

Number three was GET REVENGE ON NARUTO UZUMAKI!!

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**MEG: See? Eternal rivals.**

**SASUKE: Yes. But, there is another…**

**MEG: SHUT UP SASUKE-KUN, OR YOU'LL RUIN **_**IT**_**!!**

**SASUKE: …**


	5. The Little Brother:The Grouchy Cousin

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE

The Little Brother - The Grouchy Cousin

"Hi everyone, I'm home!" Kiba called, walking into the house. "Hey, Akamaru!" He greeted his pet dog, who bounded up to meet him resembling some form of attacking lion.

"Kiba, is that you?" Kiba's Mum called.

"Yeah!"

"Come into the kitchen." She said, and Kiba and Akamaru made their way into the spacious kitchen.

Kiba's Mum Kuina was standing by the stove, stirring a pot. His Dad, Tsume, was garnishing a roast chicken, twirling the seasonings in both hands like an expert.

Kiba's older sister, Hana, was sitting at the kitchen table, doing her homework from uni. His younger brother, Toeboi, was also sitting at the kitchen table with his maths homework, but he wasn't trying to finish it. A red Nintendo DS was in his hands, and he was playing Mario Bros.

"Kiba, we're having guests over for tea tonight," Kuina said. "One of your friends from school, Neji Hyuga? Do you know him?"

Kiba knew him. "He's _not_ my friend, Mum." Kiba replied, as he sat down at the table.

"Oh," Kuina looked sad. "That's a shame. Neji and his Father, Hizashi, are coming over, and they're bringing Hinata with them. Of course, Hiashi and Hanabi are..."

"Hinata's coming!?" Kiba cried, standing up again. "Well why didn't you say so, that changes _everything_!"

"I _bet_ it does!" Toeboi smirked.

"Shut up you little pustule!" Kiba growled.

The phone rang just then, and even Hana grinned. "Don't bother Dad," She said, as Tsume got up to answer the phone. "I bet it's for Kiba. It's probably _Hinata_..."

Tsume rolled his eyes and picked up the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi Shibi...yeah, I know it...when?"

Toeboi walked past the phone and said to Tsume: "Try not to tie up the line I'm waiting for a call."

Tsume put his hand on the receiver and replied: "I own the line."

Kuina, Kiba and Hana exchanged a smile.

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"Thankyou for inviting us over again, Kuina." Hiashi raised his glass to Kiba's Mum, and then to Tsume. "And Tsume, thankyou."

Neji, Kiba had noticed, seemed to spend an awful lot of time throughout the meal glaring at poor Hinata, who flinched under Neji's piercing gaze. Hanabi just ate her dinner quietly, as did Hana, and even Toeboi seemed well-behaved, which was probably short-lived.

"Hey," He said, after dinner was finished and they'd eaten the dessert, which was apple pie. "Do you guys wanna come see my new video game?" He addressed Neji, Hinata and Hanabi, but his own siblings came too, and they all trooped down the hall to Toeboi and Kiba's room.

Now that Neji was away from his Father and his Uncle, he was allowed to say what he felt. "Jeez, your house sure is small, isn't it?"

"Neji!" Hinata gasped.

Neji glared at her, and she shrunk back.

Kiba wanted to say something, but just then they reached the room he and his younger brother shared. Akamaru was lounging on Kiba's bed, but he jumped up and did his attacking lion imitation when they all came in.

Hinata immediately sank to her knees and began petting the big white dog, but Neji stood back.

"Get the mutt out of here." Neji said.

"No, Akamaru stays." Kiba declared.

Neji glanced back down the hallway, and then hissed: "Look, either the dog goes or _I_ go!"

"You can go." Hana said.

"No, l-l-look, I'll put Akamaru outside, N-N-Neji can stay." Hinata said quietly.

"I'll do it." Kiba said, and when he came back he found the others crowded around the TV set, but the video game wasn't on. "What's happening?" Kiba asked.

"They're saying a storm is forming near here," Hinata said quietly. "A b-b-big snowstorm..."

Kiba sat down beside her, and listened to what the news reporter had to say.

Giant blizzards. Torrential winds. Freezing gales. And possibly the world's second ice-age, were just some of the words she used to describe what Kiba thought was just a mild storm.

"Come on," He said, turning on the X-Box V8000. "Let's forget about some flurry and just play the video game! I get to be Mario!"

"Yeah!" Toeboi agreed, thrusting a controller into a startled Hinata's hands. "Here Hinata, you can be Princess Peach! That's Mario's _girlfriend_!" He added, and everybody else snickered whilst Hinata and Kiba blushed. It didn't help when Toeboi added: "Kiba and Hinata sitting in the tree! K-I-S-S-I..."

"Hang on." Kiba handed the controls to Hinata and Toeboi jumped up and started running and Kiba gave chase.

Hana was laughing her head off, and both Hinata and Hanabi looked embarrassed, but Neji just rolled his eyes, as if he thought the others - even Hana - were far too immature for him.

Not like Emma. Now _she_ was very mature...

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"Emma!!" Temari shrieked.

"What!?" Emma cried, trying hard to look innocent.

"Aclene isn't a word!" Temari told her.

"Yes, it is!" Emma protested.

"Okay then," Temari folded her arms. "What does it mean?"

"It means," Emma looked smug. "A cross between an acute triangle and a _scalene_ triangle."

"No it doesn't!" Temari cried.

"Yes, it does!" Emma replied.

Matsuri, Garaa and Kankurou sighed. They knew they should've chosen Mouse Trap instead of Scrabble, especially when Garaa tried to convince everybody that METALHEAD is a word. It's not.

"Well, it should be," Garaa replied, when Temari pointed this out.

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**MEG: What's wrong with Neji?**

**KIBA: He…**

**MEG: I wasn't asking **_**you**_**!!**

**KIBA: Then who **_**were**_** you asking? Yourself!?**

**MEG: At least I treat myself with respect! You guys don't respect me!**

**HANA: I'm sorry, did you say something?**

**MEG: AAAUUURRRGGGHHH!!**


	6. The SnowBall:The Broken Window

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SIX

The Snow-Ball – The Broken Window

The next day at school, as if anybody could have forgotten about yesterday's assembly, Tsunade or Orochimaru or somebody put a big sign up that reminded everybody:

NO SNOWBALL FIGHTS!! (Anyone caught breaking this rule will be suspended without trial).

That last part was definitely Orochimaru's words, since he'd suspended more kids then any other teacher in the whole state of Konoha.

"And here I was thinking we'd be better off here." Kankurou complained to his siblings, Matsuri and Emma, when they saw the sign.

"Think of the battle of the bands." Temari suggested to him, and he did, but it was hard, especially with Neji Hyuga hanging around.

That morning, he lent Emma a pencil in homeroom when she wanted to play the Square Game with Matsuri (you know the one, where you have to be the last one to finish a quare on dotted paper, and then that square becomes 'yours' and the person with the most squares wins?).

In maths (having it two days in a row is torture, but at least they wouldn't have it again until Friday), he asked if he could borrow her calculator, and she said yes.

At recess, he left the last chocolate pudding for so that she could have it, and she said thankyou to him.

After recess, in the hallway, he helped her get into her locker when it jammed (usually Kankurou was the one to help her, but he came along too late).

And, at lunchtime, when the school decided to play Snow-Ball, Neji picked Emma to be on his team.

Here's how those playing pick teams.

The team captains are elected via Paper-Scissors-Rock. Then, they each pick a person, and then _those_ people pick the next people, and so on and so forth.

Even though the best players were out there, everyone naturally picked their friends.

Here's how Team 1, the Blue Jays, were picked.

Kin was made team captain. Okay, there were no surprises there, because of her mean pitch. There were also no surprises when she picked Ai, since Ai was her friend and also a good athlete. Then Ai picked her foster sister and best friend, Sore. Then Sore picked Dosu, much to his delight, and Dosu picked Zaku.

THEN, Zaku surprised everyone by picking Sakura.

"Why me?" She asked, at the same time Sai asked: "Why Sakura? I thought you hated her?"

"I do," Zaku grumbled, glaring at the pink-haired girl. "But, let's just say I've learned the error of my ways from primary school."

Sai glanced at Sakura, but she just shook her head, Later on she would explain what the 'error of Zaku's ways' had been in primary school.

Sakura of course, chose Sasuke next. Ino wanted Sasuke to pick her, but he chose Kai instead, because Kai was a good athlete. Sasuke didn't know Kai, but it was obvious. So then, Kai chose his best friend, Mari. Mari chose her good friend and science buddy, Hinata. Hinata, of course, chose Naruto, and Naruto chose Lee, since Lee's so energetic he's good at anything and everything.

And, this is how the Robins were chosen.

Temari was the team captain, of course, and chose Shikamaru. Shikamaru chose his best friend, Chouji, who chose their other best friend, Ino. Ino picked Tenten who, along the same lines as Lee but for a different reason, is good at sports, and Tenten of course chose Neji. Neji of course chose Emma, and then Emma chose her foster sister Matsuri, who of course chose Garaa. Garaa chose Musha, who has been nicknamed 'The Red Hare' she's so fast, and Musha chose Kiba, who chose Sai (the last person there).

Kankurou wasn't there for the game (like Mushi, he had a detention - typical), but later people told him what happened.

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First Naruto came out wearing a pair of elephant ears. "See the big baboon beat on his bongo," Naruto sang, parading around the school yard. "As the baby elephants advaaaance...down in, the jungle! It's a brand new dance you oughta try! Come to the jungle, and see the animals in action, baby elephant's walk..."

"Okay, okay," Sakura grinned. "Now, let's..."

"PLAAAAAAY BAAAAAALL!!" Kiba, who loved snow-ball, yelled, and everybody cheered.

Snow-ball, by the way, is like regular soft-ball, only in the snow. It makes sliding into bases interesting.

The Blue-Jays were up at bat second, and when Hinata's turn came, she was so nervous because Neji was pitching to her, that she missed the first two times.

"Relax, Hyuga," Dosu, who was catcher, told her (Dosu makes a good catcher, the way he hunches over like that). "Don't let him get to you. Just pretend Neji _is_ the ball..."

"Neji is the ball, Neji is the ball..." Hinata repeated under her breath, and watched Neji - I mean, the ball - sail towards her. "HYAAA!!" She shouted, and whacked that poor softball for all its worth! It went flying, and Matsuri went running after it, and Hinata ran the bases, with everyone cheering: "HOMER! HOMER!"

And, Hinata did it! She got a home-run! Yay!

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The Robins soon found themselves in the outfield again.

"Okay," They heard Kin tell her team. "The bases are loaded and we've got Temari pitching. "Naruto," She sounded serious. "Don't screw this up for us, okay?"

Naruto gulped, not sure if he could handle this kind of pressure.

Temari pitched the ball to him, and he missed the first two times.

"I don't think he can handle it," Sasuke called out. "Hinata should've gone up again!"

"I'm out here you idiot!" Hinata called (not _too_ loudly) from second base.

Naruto heard Sasuke. Perhaps the same thing went through his mind that went through Hinata's. Perhaps he just wanted to go and buy another Roadie Pie from the canteen.

Whatever the reason, Naruto hit the ball with all his might!

It went flying, and Emma and Neji both had a clear shot of it. Of course, neither of them called for the ball, neither of them even saw each other, and ran smack-bang into each other. They landed like Li and Sakura land in the episode Nothing To Report, when they fall into the pond.

Stars were flying around both their heads, just like in a cartoon, but no one was really watching that.

The ball Naruto had just hit slammed straight into Tsunade's office window.

"SCATTER!" Kiba yelled, and grabbed Hinata's hand, as feds and FBI agents began swarming into the yard.

"Come on!" Sakura had to grab both Lee and Shino (who had been watching), and chivy Sai along as well. She noticed, with satisfaction, that Sasuke completely refused Ino's help to escape.

Shikamaru was still asleep in the stands. Musha climbed a tree to escape.

"Come on!" Matsuri ran over to Emma, and grabbed her hand. With Garaa's help, she managed to drag her stunned foster sister out of harms way. Temari and Tenten saw to Neji. Emma and Neji exchanged a bewildered glance, and then he smiled at her. She grinned back.

Soon, only Naruto was left, surrounded by agents, police officers and facing one VERY ANGRY Tsunade.

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**MEG: Is Naruto just an accident waiting to happen?**

**SASUKE: Yes. Yes, he is.**

**KIBA: Oh no! Naruto just ran into the kitchen counter and the knife block fell on him!!**

**NARUTO: (From somewhere off-screen) Hinata-Chan! Hinata-Chan! Ambulance! Ambulance!!**


	7. The Spelling Bee:The Song Bird

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Spelling Bee - The Song Bird

"Oh, I HATE spelling bees!" Naruto complained.

"I know," Said Anko. "That's why we're having one. You year tens spell like a bunch of morons!" She added, and the whole year ten student body gulped.

"Is there aspelling _wasp_?" Sakura murmured.

"No such thing." Shino replied, and he WOULD know.

"First word," Anko said, as she and the year tens stood up onstage. "Is for Lee. Your word is enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic!" Lee cried. "What a youthful word! Such vigor, such power, such"

"Just spell the bloody word already!" Anko groaned, and Lee spelt the word correctly and went to the end of the line (this is the end of the line!!).

"Next, Sakura," Anko said. "Please spell remorseful."

"Re-what?"

"What you're gonna be if you don't spell the word!" Anko was getting pissed off already.

Sakura spelt the word, and then it was Tenten's turn.

"Please spell insensitive."

Tenten paused. "Can I...uh...hear that in a sentence please?"

"When Tenten didn't spell the word insensitive..."

"Uh...never mind." Tenten hastily spelt the word.

Next was Chouji. "Please spell mortgage."

"Mortgage. M-O-R-G-A-G-E. Mortgage." Chouji said, eyeing the vending machine in the hallway outside.

"That's not right!" Anko nearly screamed. "See, see, you year tens spell worse then my pet cat!"

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

Every other student except for Musha groaned, as Hoshi stepped forward.

"Oh boy, here goes little miss sunshine." Ino murmured to Shika.

"Teacher's pet!" Kiba added.

Hoshi pretended not to hear them, and said: "I believe mortgage is spelt M-O-R-T-G-A-G-E." She smiled at Anko.

"What!?" Chouji exploded. "What kind of a bloody spelling is _that_ for a word I'm not even gonna use!"

"He has no idea." Tenten whispered to Lee, who nodded.

Anko made everyone calm down, and then Kiba spelt serendipity, Sore spelt tintinnabulation, Dosu spelt chrysanthemum (and got it right), Garaa spelt accolade and then, finally, it was Naruto's turn.

"Naruto," Anko said calmly. "Your word is...hmm...let's see..." She looked down her list.

Naruto looked confident, and bragged to Hinata and Sakura: "I'll be able to spell this word, no problems!"

"How about..." Anko looked up. "Onomatopoeia?"

Naruto's eyes opened wide, and he fainted.

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"And then Naruto fainted." Musha was telling Mushi, as they walked over to band practice that afternoon.

"Man, he's way out of the loop." Mushi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Musha agreed. "He's so far out of the loop he doesn't even know there _is_ a loop!"

The two girls laughed, as they walked past music room M3.

Inside, they heard a band already practicing. The two girls peeked inside.

The Sand Vibes were practicing hard. Kankurou on the drums, Garaa on the guitar, Temari on bass, Emma on the keyboard and singing, and Matsuri singing.

"_Tonight is such a great crescent moon_!" Matsuri sang.

"_And everyday, every night, shining brighter..._" Emma added.

"Wow, they're good." Musha whispered, backing away from the room.

"Yeah, we can't compete." Mushi added.

"What are you two looking at?" Hoshi seemed to appear from nowhere, and glanced into the room.

"The Sand Vibes, they're so much better then what we are." Mushi explained, and Hoshi's face took on its 'no one's better then me' look.

"No one is a better singer then what I am," Hoshi said, leading her two best friends towards M7. "And Musha, you play the guitar better then _that_ red-haired shortie. Mushi, you're a much better keyboard player then Emma is. But, Shino's bass-ing has fallen, so Temari _might_ be as good as she is. And _no one_, not even Kiba, is a better drummer then Kankurou is."

Musha and Mushi exchanged a glance.

None of them saw Kiba and Shino standing behind them, looking shocked, hurt and more then a little bit murderous.

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"Great practice you guys!" Ai told her band, The Sound Ninja.

"Yeah, same time, same place, tomorrow?" Zaku asked, putting down his electric guitar.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Kin asked, placing her bass guitar next to Zaku's electric guitar.

"I can't." Dosu said, abandoning his drum kit.

"Why not?" Sore asked him.

"I promised somebody I'd help them with something." Dosu said, evasively.

"With?" Ai prompted.

"Just...something." Dosu replied.

"Dosu!" Ai exclaimed. "I'm your twin sister! What secrets do you have to keep from me!?" She looked at Zaku, her best guy friend. "Come on Zaku, you know I'm right, aren't I!?"

"Uh..." Zaku glanced from Ai to Dosu, not quite sure how to answer this.

"Whatever," Ai said finally, throwing up her hands and stalking over to the door. "Come on guys, let's not miss the train again."

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**MEG: Zaku would have been taking a BIG risk just then, saying Ai was wrong.**

**SHINO: Why's that?**

**(Zaku runs by, being chased by an angry, axe-wielding Ai)**

**SHINO: Oh. (Sweatdropping)**


	8. Puppy Dogz:Kitty Catz

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

Puppy Dogz - Kitty Catz

"It's overly cold today." Sakura complained, to the nearest person which happened to be Lee. "I mean, way more then usual..."

"Look!" Naruto appeared from nowhere, with two icicles hanging off his nose. "Sakura, Lee, I'm a walrus!"

"I read somewhere that walruses..." Sai began, but somebody cut him off.

"Sakura," It was Sasuke! "Can I speak to you, please?"

Sakura, her heart pounding, nodded as she stood up and, ignoring the sad looks on Naruto and Lee's faces, she followed Sasuke out of the canteen.

"What's up, Sasuke?" Sakura asked him.

"Sakura, I need you to tell me something." Sasuke said quietly. "What is..."

Sakura waited.

"The name of that cute girl that's always hanging around that red-haired tattoo freak?" Sasuke finished.

Sakura let out the breath she'd been holding, and felt her heart break. Sasuke had a crush on the wrong girl. It should be her, Sakura! Not Matsuri!

"Her name is Matsuri," Sakura said softly. "If you mean the one with brown eyes. _Three_ girls hang around Garaa. The hazel-eyed one is Emma, and the tall blonde one is his (Garaa's) sister." She didn't even mention Kankurou, he wasn't worth mentioning. :(

"Ah, I see." Sasuke turned to go but, he added: "Oh, Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

Sasuke left, leaving Sakura very confused.

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"Where did Emma and Garaa go in such a hurry?" Kankurou wanted to know. _If Garaa even attempts to make a move..._

"They said they had something to help someone with." Matsuri replied, as they waited for the train. "They wouldn't say what."

"You're taking this awfully came, Matsuri." Temari noted.

Matsuri shrugged. "I trust my sister."

_Ah, but do we trust Garaa?_ Temari wondered.

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"Kiba, where're you going!?" Shino wanted to know.

"I gotta help someone with something!" Kiba called over his shoulder.

"Is that somebody _Hinata_?"

"Yes, but she's helping too!"

"Helping with what?" Shino wondered out loud, as he watched Sakura ran past, and he didn't even have to ask where she was going.

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"Are we all here?" Emma asked quietly, standing outside of a house.

"I'm here." Kiba grinned, and everyone laughed softly.

"I made it!" Sakura added, running up to them, and stopping to catch her breath. "I think we're all here!" She added, and Dosu nodded. He knocked on the door, and it was opened almost immediately.

"Ah good, you're all here." Said Rin. "Come on out the back, and we'll get to work." They all trooped around to the back of the large 10 acre property. 'Now, who wants to..?"

"I get the tigers!" Sakura cried immediately.

"I want to work with the wolves!" Kiba added, and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"I'll take the monkeys." Dosu added.

"I guess that leaves us with the horses." Emma said to Garaa, who nodded.

"Excellent." Rin smiled. "With you guys helping, these animals will be rehabilitated in no time."

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"Buttercup!" Sakura cried, as one of the tigers stood up and 'hugged' her. "And Maxwell, hello!" She added, to the huge male white Siberian Tiger.

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"How are your cubs coming along, Whisper?" Hinata asked the large pregnant she-wolf. The Mother-to-be wagged her tail. "I'm glad."

"Hey Hinata, look!" Kiba called from atop the back of Greywald, Whisper's mate. "I'm _Prince_ Mononoke!"

Hinata giggled.

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"Somehow..." Rin watched Dosu, hunched over, scratch his head. She watched their snow monkey, Prince Kong, do the same thing. "I think Dosu was _born_ to work with the primates..."

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"I think these guys may be ready to find homes." Garaa said, leading a chestnut mare named Valencia by her halter and lead rope.

"Yeah, they're too tame now to go back into the wild." Emma added, watching the grey Snowflake nurse her eight month old black foal Coal. "Hey, maybe _I_ can get a horse!"

"On your parents's salary?" Garaa raised a non-existent eyebrow. "I don't think so."

"Well then, how about a bird?" Rin asked her, coming over to the horse's paddock, and there was a large blue and black parrot on her shoulder.

The bird immediately flew over to Emma's shoulder, and began singing _You Are My Sunshine_.

"Aww, of course! I always wanted a bird!" Emma cried.

"So, you've got a bird now?" Dosu asked, coming over with a small monkey called Trixie Kong on his shoulder.

"Uh huh!" Emma nodded vigorously.

"What are you gonna call him?" Sakura wanted to know, calling out from the tiger's cage.

"Jaws." Emma replied clearly.

Everyone else sweatdropped.

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**MEG: This chapter should have been called Puppy Dogz – Kitty Catz – Snow Wolves – Dosu's REAL Family!**

**KAI: Hear, hear!**


	9. Storm Watch:Storm Warning

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

Storm Watch - Storm Warning

"Have you been listening to the news?" Chouji asked Kai.

"Yeah, they say it's a storm watch!" Kai replied, as they stood around with cups of hot chocolate before school.

The wind had picked up, and it had started snowing again, but Kai and Chouji were waiting just outside the school for their friends.

"Well, it can't be too bad," Chouji added, glancing up at the sky. "I mean, they didn't close school."

"UNFORTUNATELY!" Naruto put in his two cents as he hightailed into the warmth of the school.

"Hey, there's Mari!" Kai pointed, watching as his friend wearing a bright pink scarf and yellow gloves ran towards them. "Watch it Mari, don't slip!" He called to her.

And she slowed down just a smidgen.

With her were Ino and Shika, as well as Temari, her siblings and Matsuri and Emma.

They all walked into the school together, talking about the weather, the battle of the bands, how cold it was, and why there was no hot chocolate left in the vending machine.

"I blame Kai and Chouji." Mari said.

Emma laughed.

"Hey, Emma, Garaa, where did you two..." Matsuri began but, just then, a voice over the school's PA system said: "All students are to go to their homerooms immediately."

"That's Tsunade." Kankurou stated.

"Let's go." Ino suggested, and they started towards homeroom. They picked up a few students along the way, including Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji and Tenten.

In homeroom they found Lee, Sakura, Dosu, Kin, Zaku and Ai waiting for them.

Sore, Sai, Musha, Mushi and Naruto arrived soon after, with Kakashi following.

He shut the door, and turned to his class. "Now, as you probably have all been watching the news lately, a storm is coming." He began but, just then Naruto, who was listening to his bright orange I-Pod, suddenly yelled and ran to the radio at the front of the classroom.

He turned it on, just in time to hear the news reporter say: "To repeat. The storm watch has become an official storm warning. Citizens of Konoha and Otafuku Gai are urged to stay indoors and batten down the hatches! We do not advise leaving your homes for anything, and the storm is currently making its way towards the Leaf Village and should arrive within the hour or so." The news reporter went on to describe the storm. She used words like 'hazardous' and 'torrential' and 'the next ice-age' to describe it, and a few students began to shiver.

Kakashi turned off the radio when the report was done, and sighed. "Well then..."

Sasuke suddenly walked into the classroom, covered in snow, and he was holding a black cat.

"Okay, that's random." Kiba commented.

"I found it." Sasuke replied, dropping the cat which ran up to Matsuri. "The storm's here." He added and, just then, the snow hit the school.

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The students in Kakashi's homeroom, plush Kakashi and one black cat, were sitting in the school. Their room had no windows, so they just had to listen to the howling winds and battering snow, and pray to Jashin that the school wouldn't fall apart.

Or be whisked away to Oz.

Sasuke wandered over to Matsuri, and asked her why she thought the cat had come over to her.

"Oh, that's easy," Matsuri said. 'See, my sister just got a bird, and we were hanging out with Jaws - that's the parrot's name - all morning. I bet the cat could smell the bird scent on my clothes."

"I see." Sasuke was about to say more but, just then, he sensed... "Uh oh, killing intent..."

Garaa Sabaku was staring - no, _glaring_ - at Sasuke, and Sasuke felt himself being pushed away by the dark aura.

Matsuri didn't seem to notice this, and just went back to playing Tic-Tac-Toe with Emma, as the cat, Nightshade aka Spud, lounged around like only cats do.

Kankurou was still trying to finish his Poem For Emma, and Temari was trying to keep Shika awake.

"You'll die if you go to sleep in this weather!" She told him.

"No," He said. "That's only when the heater's not on..."

There was a dull clunk from somewhere in the school building, and half the class groaned.

The rest glared at Shika, the jinx-er.

But, he was already asleep again.

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"You'll be glad to know," Said Kakashi, coming back into the classroom a few minutes later. "That that _wasn't_ the heater."

"Then what _was_ it!?" Naruto called out. "It's _freezing_ in here!"

"That's ghosts, Naruto." Kai told him.

Sasuke flinched, but only Sakura saw it.

"Well, I don't know about the temperature," Kakashi went on. "But the sound you all heard was a racoon crawling around in the air-conditioning ducts."

Everyone turned and looked at Garaa. His scary aura turned into a brick-wall, shielding him from view.

They all turned back, in time to hear Kakashi say: "Umm...the problem is, no one is game enough to go in there and get it before something goes wrong..."

"Like the heat wires being chewed up by the racoon." Temari said flatly.

"That's it." Kakashi nodded. "So...who's brave enough to go up there and sort it out?"

Crickets chirped. A tumbleweed bounced its way across the classroom, and Spud the cut pounced on it.

Finally, Kakashi added: "And, that person will be entitled to a years supply of whatever food of their choosing..."

A certain orange-wearing youth suddenly jumped up and cried: "I ramen! I mean, I'll do it!"

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**MEG: Racoons are dangerous, man. Everyone knows that.**

**KANKUROU: Exactly, just look at Garaa… (Garaa's sand come sup threateningly. **_**Joking**_**…**

**MEG: Ah, wrong fanfic Garaa-Chama. There are NO super powers here.**

**ALL: WHAT!!**

**MEG: HAVEN'T YOU FIGURED THAT OUT YET!!**


	10. Racoons:Leniency

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

Racoons - Leniency

"Why did I ever agree to do this?" Naruto grumbled, as he crawled through the ducts above the school. "Yes, for the free ramen, but this is...oh, eww, is that a _spider_!?"

"Naruto?" A voice called from behind him, and Naruto half-turned to shine the flashlight on Sakura.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" Naruto blinked his baby blue eyes.

"Get that thing off me." She snapped and, when he did: "I couldn't let you do this alone, Naruto." Sakura told him gently. "Besides, the Animal Brigade voted, and said I had to go."

"The what?"

"Never mind."

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"Do you think they're okay up there?" Temari wondered, as she and everyone else had been staring at the ceiling for about ten minutes.

"Sakura, sure." Sai shrugged. "Naruto...not so much."

Hinata sighed.

"And what was that for?" Musha asked her.

"Ah-I-ah-well-you see..." Hinata stammered and, to save her from the awkwardness of the situation, Kiba called out: "Hey, has anyone seen that cat Sasuke brought in?"

"Come to think of it...where's Chouji!!" Ino screamed.

"Chouji?" Mari cried.

"Spud!?" Matsuri exclaimed. "Oh no, Emma, my cat's gone!"

"_Your_ cat?" Emma raised an eyebrow, and didn't look worried because...

The door suddenly opened, and in came Chouji, with the cat on his shoulder, and an armload of food from the canteen.

Including ramen, for Naruto when he came back!

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"I hope my parents aren't too worried about me, at school in this storm." Sakura murmured, as she and Naruto crawled their way through the school's air-con ducts. _I bet they never saw me doing this, is this even LEGAL!?_

"Nobody's worried about me." Naruto said softly.

Sakura winced. "Oh, Naruto, I'm sorry. Sometimes you're so...I dunno, _you_, that I forget you're an...you know..."

"An orphan?" Naruto responded. "You can say it, I don't care."

But, he did care.

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Matsuri started singing, and Emma joined in.

"_Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember..._"

When they finished the song, everyone cheered, and someone, probably Mari (who had decided to be the 'class-idiot' whilst Naruto was off racoon-hunting) suggested a sing-a-long.

"It's cold in here, Naruto was right." Ino said, shivering. "For once." She added.

"I hope the racoon didn't eat its way through the heating wires." Chouji muttered, eating a sausage roll.

"I'll bet the school isn't rich enough to heat all of the rooms at once." Matsuri said.

"Yup." Sai nodded.

"We must sing!" Lee declared. "It is the youthful thing to o! I shall start!" And, he launched into a rendition of _Burning Love_, by Elvis Presley. Everyone else joined in, because there was nothing left to do.

Then, they sung other 'warm' songs, such as _Burn_ and 'down, down, down into a burning ring of fire'.

Then, Kiba, damn him, started singing _Frozen_ by Madonna.

The others joined in, and he was glad to see them all shivering, because Kiba's just evil. :)

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"Hey, do you hear that?" Sakura asked suddenly.

"Hear what?" Naruto asked.

"That...scrabbling noise..." Sakura whispered, afraid to speak any louder because she already knew what it was.

"Well...ah, what does it sound like?" Naruto wanted to know.

"Like a creature running on all fours in this direction..." Sakura muttered.

Naruto trained the flashlight straight in front of them. The beam shone on metal, dust, the occasional spider and...

A furry grey and black creature was running full tilt towards Naruto and Sakura, who was peering in worry over the blonde boy's shoulder, and she screamed: "KYAAAAA!!" When the racoon ran straight into them.

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"Hey!" Kiba suddenly cried, putting an end to the singing. "Did somebody hear that?"

"Hear what?" Asked Kin, who was sitting close by and strumming a ukelele she had found in the classroom.

"That sound." Kiba said, closing his eyes and listening very hard. "It sounded almost like...Sakura. Screaming."

"WHAT!!" Lee yelled, jumping to his feet.

"Hey, I hear it too!" Musha cried, also standing up. "Kiba, did you just hear Naruto yell 'Motherfu'..."

"Yes!" Kiba nodded, before Musha could go on any further. "And now Sakura's saying...it's too big!"

Everyone was staring at Kiba and Musha in shock now.

"Umm...Temari?" Garaa whispered to his sister. "What's happening up there?"

Temari glanced down at Garaa, startled, and said: "You really don't understand any of this?"

Matsuri and Emma exchanged a glance. Kankurou just groaned.

Temari exhaled loudly. "Oh-kay..." She said but, just then, Kiba gasped.

"I just heard Naruto say they're both bleeding!" He cried.

Even Kankurou looked worried now. "Does that usually happen?" He asked nobody in particular.

Emma chose to answer. "Well, I dunno about _guys_..." She trailed off, and both she and Kankurou looked embarrassed.

Garaa was still waiting for Temari to continue. She thought maybe _Kankurou_ and Garaa should have this talk.

"This is ridiculous." Kai suddenly said.

"What is, Kai?" Mari wanted to know.

"Well," He said. "I was reading Naruto's diary..."

Everyone stared at him.

"And he's..." Kai looked embarrassed. "Well, let's just say I think it's weird for him to have 'you-know-what' for the first time in an _air-conditioning duct_!"

"Oh, I get it." Ai nodded. "Naruto's a virgin."

Sore rolled her eyes.

Chouji looked thoughtful. "Does this mean Sakura's a virgin too?"

"Ha!" Ino cried. "Yeah, right! I wouldn't be surprised if she's..."

Kakashi was pretending not to hear all of this.

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_Grr, little Ino pig!_ Sakura was thinking, as she and Naruto wrestled the rabid racoon.

Suddenly, the area of the duct they were in chose to gave way, and Naruto, Sakura and the racoon fell into Tsunade's office, where she was currently making out with none other then Mr. Jiraiya, the health teacher.

"AAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHHHH!!" Sakura, Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade screamed. "AAAAUUUURRRRGGGGHHHH!!"

And, the racoon chose Naruto's head to clamber up onto, nearly scratching the poor kid's eyes out - but, he almost wished that it _had_!

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"What happened to _you_?" Kiba cried, when Naruto and Sakura walked back into the classroom, nursing cuts and bruises.

"Let's just say..." Naruto groaned.

"That we may have to leave this school or be expelled." Sakura shuddered.

Together they said: "There are just some things you were never meant to see."

The entire class stared at them in shock.

Lee started bawling his eyes out in the corner.

Hinata had turned white, so white that Sakura noticed it and said: "Hey, Hinata, you feeling okay? I mean, after Naruto's and mine tangle with that rabid racoon, we should be..."

"OHHHH!!" Everyone else said, and Hinata and Lee looked relieved, to say the least.

"We thought you were..." Mari began, but Kai covered her mouth with his hand and said: "We're glad you're alright. Where's the racoon now?"

"Serving as a paper-weight on Tsunade's desk." Naruto replied.

"Hey everybody!" Ino suddenly called, to get the focus away from her rival, Sakura. "The snow's stopped! We can go outside now!"

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Well, they actually had to wait another hour or so before they _could_ go outside but, once they were allowed to, they were in awe.

Konoha had been transformed into a wintery wonderland of whiteness. It was magical, enchanting, and totally _cool_.

Kakashi watched calmly as the students in his homeroom went wild.

Naruto and Sakura made a snow-sculpture of the racoon they had tangled with. Matsuri's cat romped around in the snow, playing mountain lion. Matsuri followed him, and Sasuke followed her, chatting with her occasionally whilst Ino looked on enviously.

Some kids built a sled hill, and they took turns sledding down it on anything they could find.

Some of the girls in the class made snow angels.

"Cool!" Naruto cried, abandoning his racoon sculpture and flopping down on the ground, moving his arms and legs. He stood up, and then frowned at his demonic creation. "Aww, why does that always happen?"

"Naruto just had a chilling realisation!" Temari laughed.

Shikamaru fell asleep in the snow, so a few students buried him in it.

"Kankurou!" Temari suddenly cried, watching as her eldest younger brother sat on a bench, eating snow. "What are you doing!? That's snow that's been on the ground!"

"Garaa!" Kankurou called. "Write that one down so we can have it at home!"

Ai and Zaku began building a snow-castle, and soon people began joining in, and two were made.

"We'll have to start thinking about carriage driving instead of sleigh driving now." Emma said to Garaa.

"What?" Matsuri asked.

"Nothing." Emma smiled sweetly, as she and Kankurou started work on a snow stables.

Ino and Shino began making a snow bakery/flower shop (double business), and Hinata, Matsuri and Kiba began to make a snow jail house.

Dosu, Kin and Sore made a giant snow sculpture for their 'village'.

During all of this, Sai managed to tug Musha aside and ask her where Hoshi was today.

"Oh, she's sick in bed with a cold." Musha leaned closer and whispered: "I think she _knew_ the storm was coming."

"Ah, I see." Sai nodded.

Suddenly, a snowball came flying and hit Mushi on the shoulder.

Everyone stopped and looked around. Who threw that snowball?

Finally, Tsunade stood up and said: "Just for today...you may have _one_ snowball fight!"

"HOORAY!!" The students all screamed, and quickly broke into teams.

Tenten quickly finished her snow panda, and even Neji got up and joined in, and soon people were running around, throwing snowballs, laughing, dodging snowballs, and tagging people out.

"For our people!!" Declared Temari.

"No, for _our_ people!!" Kiba rebelled.

Everyone laughed, especially when those two were forced to switch sides a moment later when they were struck out by snowballs.

Everyone was having such a good time, that no one wanted to leave, but in the end they all had to. It was getting late, and dark, save for a few lights on here and there.

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"Huh?" Shika awoke with a start. "Wha...where am I?" He looked around sleepily, and found Chouji waiting for him.

"Ready to go?" He asked him, and Shika nodded.

Chouji heaved him out of the snow.

"Where is everyone?" Shika looked around. It was very late.

Chouji motioned for Shika to follow him, and then led him to the snow bakery/florist, which they found by following the lights from around the school walls.

Inside the snow building was a snow sculpture of Sasuke. Ino herself was sitting at a snow table, and saying: "Some more tea, my Sasuke-dear?"

Shika and Chouji both sweatdropped.

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**MEG: Ino? Time to go-lo…Ino-San?**

**INO: Some more tea, Sasuke dear?**

**SASUKE: (Mysteriously vanished)**

**RACOON: Why am I a paperweight?**

**TSUNADE: And why was I kissing **_**Jiraiya**_**!? He's a freak!**

**JIRAIYA: That's not what ya said last night dear!**

**TSUNADE: Call me dear again, and I'll kill you!**

**MEG: …Uh, please R&R pplz!**


	11. Melting Point:Spring Has Sprung

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Melting Point - Spring Has Sprung

"You should have come to school that day, Hoshi." Mushi said next week, in homeroom.

"Yeah, right." Hoshi sniffed. "I had much more fun at home. It was warm, the heater was on, and I watched _The Days Of Our Lives_."

A few people rolled their eyes. Why did Hoshi have to make everything she did seem so much bigger and better?

They just ignored her after that.

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Soon, the snow began melting. The lake became a lake again instead of a frozen pond, and animals started coming out of hibernation.

"It's still not warm enough to go to the beach." Ino complained on September 1st.

Chouji laughed. "Ino, you know the weather only becomes beach weather around the end of October, start of November!"

"Yeah," Ino grumbled. "But I never liked it much...hey! There's Sasuke! And...who's he with? It'd better not be Sakura...oh! No, I do believe it's Matsuri!"

"Matsuri?" Shika looked lazily over at the situation. "Oh boy, how troublesome..."

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"It's not fair." Matsuri was saying, sitting on the bench next to one Sasuke Uchiha. "I mean, nobody seems to remember that my birthday's in ten days time! Especially not the _one_ person whom I _wanted_ to remember it..."

"Your sister?" Sasuke asked her, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"No," Matsuri sighed. "Emma's birthday is in sixteen days, she's preoccupied which is fine. It's...Garaa...I want _him_ to remember it...but he doesn't..."

Sasuke listened to Matsuri, well after the first bell had gone, but neither of them cared. They had each found a friend in each other.

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"What were you talking to my sister about this morning?" Asked the accusing voice of Emma.

Sasuke jumped. He hadn't heard her come up to his locker. She was standing there, not with her hands on her hips or anything, but there was suspicion in her hazel eyes. At times, Emma could be the stronger of th two sisters.

Sasuke replied: "It's none of yo..." He stopped when he saw the look on her face. "Oh, wait, I guess it is. Well, if you _must_ know...you know her birthday's on September 11th (yikes)..."

"Of course I know." Emma replied calmly.

"Well, she's upset because no one seems to remember it, especially not that Garaa Sabaku guy..."

"That Garaa Sabaku guy is the guy Matsuri likes." Emma informed him.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that." Sasuke nodded. "Anyway, she doesn't think anyone cares, or remembers that it's her birthday..."

Emma sighed. "Actually, Sasuke, someone's been meaning to talk to you, so I suppose _I'll_ do it..." She pulled Sasuke closer and whispered in his ear, unawares that Kankurou was watching from across the hallway.

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Pencils were tapping against desks. Heads were in hands. It was maths class again.

"Who knows the answer to this question?" Asuma asked his year eleven maths students.

"I do!" Emma and Neji both called out.

They exchanged a glance, and Neji grinned. Emma grinned too, but then said: "Three-thousand sixty...uh...nine..."

"Point two." Added Neji smugly.

"That is correct." Asuma said.

"How come you're so smart?" Emma asked Neji.

He shrugged. "It's a form of art. Smartness is as smartness does." He replied, and she giggled.

Kankurou, across the classroom, was turning livid.

_Hmm..._ Thought Mushi. _If Emma's gonna go out with Neji, then that leaves Kankurou free for Hoshi..._

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"I think spring is my favourite time of year." Matsuri said on Saturday morning, when the smell of freshly bloomed lavender came in through her open window.

"I agree." Emma said, coming into Matsuri's room via the door that connected the bathroom that connected their two rooms (that makes no sense, I know). "Though, that might only be because of the birthday..."

"I know," Matsuri smiled. "On September 17th..."

"And?" Emma prompted.

"Oh, mine too, on September 11th." Matsuri shrugged, getting out of bed. "But, it's no big deal."

_Yes, it is._ Emma thought.

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Later that day, Matsuri's Mum came into the living room to find her two daughters putting on jackets.

"Going out?" She asked them, and then saw the girls's science homework on the desk (they're in the same science class, with Kurenai). "Did you finish your homework? Well done, Matsuri."

Matsuri beamed, and then her Mum checked Emma's homework.

"Emma, half of these aren't done."

Emma was still shrugging into her coat. "So? Half of them _are_ done. I'll do the rest when I get back from practice."

"Practice?"

"Yes. Matsuri and I are rehearsing with Kankurou and the others, for our spot in the Battle Of The Bands." Emma reminded her.

"You remember, don't you Mum?" Matsuri asked her.

"Oh, yes of course, but Emma you have to finish these problems _before_ you go."

"But then it'll be too late." Emma protested. "Kankurou, Garaa and Temari are going to go and see _The Disturbed Tribute_ at Competitor Stadium tonight, so I can do my homework when I get back."

"No, you'll do it now." Matsuri's Mother was firm.

"You can't tell me what to do." Emma said, she's getting defensive, people! "I did whatever I wanted for three years of my life, and I loved it! You're not my _real_ Mother!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it. She had always called Matsuri's parents Mum and Dad, and she'd always considered them to be her parents.

Matsuri gasped, and her Mother paled a little.

"Very well," She said tightly. "Do as you wish." And she turned around and walked out without another word.

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"Emma, what are you doing?" Temari asked her.

They were halfway through their practice, and Kankurou had announced that he had to use the can.

Emma had practically flung herself at her backpack, taken out a piece of paper and begun scribbling away at it.

"She's finishing her homework for Kurenai's class." Matsuri informed them, as Kankurou came back. "Mum wanted her to before but...uh..."

"It's okay." Emma and Temari said at the same time.

Matsuri just stared at them. Garaa was acting very busy checking the sound equipment.

"I mean," Emma explained. "It's okay to talk about our family matters with these guys. Heck, they practically _are_ our family, Matsuri."

"And what _I_ meant," Temari smiled. "Was that it's okay to talk about fighting with parents around us. We understand. Actually..." She said, trailing off and glancing at Kankurou.

He groaned. "Oh, we have to go and visit this rich old lady who's apparently our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great..."

Temari glared at him.

"Great-great-great-great Grandmother," Kankurou finished quickly. "Give or take a few."

"I...see..." Matsuri nodded.

"Would you like to come with us?" Garaa spoke up, which he doesn't usually do so of course everybody listened. "She's apparently nice enough..."

"A bit senile though." Kankurou added.

Temari hit him over the head with a paper fan.

"Sure, we'll come." Matsuri grinned.

"Does she know anything about this?" Emma asked, holding up her paper. The question she was stuck on was about single-cell reproduction.

"Ah, I doubt it." Temari said, sweatdropping.

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"Hey, come quick!" Hanabi shouted.

Hanabi rarely shouts, so of course Hinata, Hiashi, Hizashi and Neji all came running.

"Look!" Hanabi cried, pointing out the window. "A robin!"

"It's the first robin of spring!" Hinata exclaimed, forgetting to be nervous or stammer.

"Hooray for spring." Neji said sarcastically. Spring was Neji's least favourite time of the year, because spring was when his Mother, Naomi, had died. It was when Hinata's Mother, Hanako, had died too.

They'd been on the same plane.

But, Neji reasoned, they wouldn't _be_ dead if Hinata's Mother hadn't suggested the trip!

It was all Hanako and Hinata's fault.

Neji was sure of it.

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"Mum?" Emma stepped into the kitchen that night.

Matsuri's Mum was cooking vegetables, but turned around and said: "Yes dear?"

"I don't deserve to be called that," Emma sniffed, and held out her homework. "I'm so sorry about what I said!" She cried, suddenly flying into the older woman's arms. "I didn't mean it! I love you like you were my real Mum, you and Dad and Matsuri are so good to me! I'm sorry I'm the way I am!"

Matsuri had come into the kitchen too, and she felt tears well up in her eyes watching her sister break down completely.

Matsuri's Mum (who we'll call Genevieve, shall we?) put down her cutting knife, and wrapped her arms around both of her daughters, who were both crying now.

"Emma," She said. "I wouldn't have you any other way. Of course Hanko and I consider you our dear daughter."

Emma sniffled, and hugged Matsuri and their Mum even tighter. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She said, as Matsuri wiped her eyes for her. "Thankyou."

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**MEG: Aww, isn't that sweet?**

**GARAA: No.**

**MEG: Aww, you're just jealous Garaa-Chama! (Hugs him)**

**MATSURI: MEG-SAN!!**

**MEG: Oh, sorry Matsuri-San… (Leaves Garaa alone)**

**SHINO: Meg would like to say to R&R please.**

**MEG: Thanks Shino! (Hugs **_**him**_**)**

**SHINO: Get away from me! (Meg does).**


	12. Rich Relatives:Sibling Rivalry

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rich Relatives - Sibling Rivalry

"Well, here's Grandma's house." Kankurou said.

"_This_ is your Grandmother's _house_!?" Matsuri cried in disbelief, as she, her sister and the Sabaku siblings stood at the front gate.

"Oh, sorry," Kankurou said drily. "Well, here's Grandma's _mansion_."

"More like a castle." Emma said in awe, as Temari rang the intercom.

"Hello?" Said a young-sounding voice.

"Hello?" Temari sounded confused. "Grandma?"

Kankurou rolled his eyes.

"This is Mallory, Lady Beatrice's maid." The young-sounding woman said. "Are you her Grandchildren?"

"Yes," Temari told her. "I'm Temari, and my brothers are here, and..."

"Oh, yes, yes, come in, Lady Beatrice is expecting you all." Mallory said, and the gates began to open.

"Well, here goes...everything..." Temari gulped.

They all held hands in a line - Kankurou, Emma, Matsuri, Garaa and Temari - and walked onto the property.

They'd gone, maybe, three steps, when a voice over the loudspeaker shouted: "GET OFF THE GRASS!!"

"Oops!" Temari said, leading her line back onto the stone pathway.

"I feel like we're in a movie." Matsuri said suddenly.

"_Picnic At Hanging Rock_?" Her sister asked her.

"No."

"_The Bride Of Frankenstein_?" Kankurou grinned.

"No! The one with...you know, the girl who finds out she's a princess of some country that no one's ever heard of, it sounds like Mum's name..." Matsuri mused, as they climbed up the front steps (most people's houses just have one or two, but _nooo_, this one had to have as many as the one in Spain).

"Genova?" Emma replied.

"Yeah."

"Oh, you mean _The Princess Diaries_." Temari nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Yeah, right." Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Who'd ever say _Temari_ was a princess?"

...

"Run." Garaa advised him.

Kankurou ran.

Temari gave chase.

And the front doors opened...

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"Where?" Ino asked her Father, but Victoria was the one who answered.

"Kika Island, in the Sea Country." She said, leaning against Inoichi's shoulder and making Ino shudder. She hated seeing her Dad and her Step-Mum being all lovey-dovey. "It's a wonderful island with shopping boutiques and a ten-storey mall!"

Ino, despite her hate for her Step-Mum, couldn't hlp but feel the tinsiest bit excited when she thought of all the shopping opportunities. "Sounds great." She said, nodding. "When do we go?"

Inoichi and Victoria exchanged a glance. Uh oh. "_We_," Inoichi said, pointing to himself and Victoria. "Leave next week, for three weeks."

"Oh." Ino replied, feeling deflated. A couples holiday, no room for a third-wheel. "Well then, where am I staying? With Mum?" Sh asked, feeling a little bit better at the thought of staying with her Mum in Port City.

"No, your Mother's got enough on her plate already with her new job." Inoichi replied.

"Shika? Chouji?" Ino suggested.

"Not after what happened last time." Inoichi told her.

"That wasn't my fault!" Ino cried, referring to the fire _Chouji_ had accidentally started.

"No." Inoichi sounded firm.

"What about with Hinata then?" Ino asked.

"Her Father's brother is staying over for the weeks we'll be in Kika." Inoichi replied. "So, no."

"Aww, not Patty and Selma!" Ino protested.

"Actually..." Inoichi cleared his throat. "How would you feel about staying by yourself for three weeks?"

Ino looked surprised. "What?"

"Well, you're a big girl now, you can take care of yourself." Inoichi told her. "What do you say?"

"I have to think about this." Ino replied.

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"Don't. Touch. _Anything_." Temari warned her brothers, as they stood around in the foyer of this big old house, waiting for Granny Beatrice to arrive.

"Okay." They replied, although Kankurou was eyeing this antique marionette puppet thingie nearby, and Matsuri was wondering how much the Ming vase over there cost.

It was probably priceless.

Finally, an old woman came down the staircase. She was wearing a blue blouse and black pants, and looked about a hundred and eighty years old.

"Ah, Temari, Kankurou, Garaa, how nice to see you." She said. She peered at the other two girls. "And who might you two be?"

Temari introduced them, and then they went into the parlor for tea.

"Kankurou, you are looking more like your Father everyday." Beatrice told him, as Mallory poured the tea.

"Really?" Kankurou said politely, but Emma watched his fists clench and unclench. Kankurou didn't _want_ to look like his Father.

"And Temari, dear, you remind me so much of Kauru." Beatrice said fondly.

"Well, I'm glad about that." Temari said sincerely.

"And Garaa, you look just like your Uncle Yashamaru..." Beatrice began but, just then, Garaa stood up.

"Where is the bathroom?" He said stiffly.

Mallory told him, and Garaa stalked out of the room.

"Oh dear..." Beatrice said worriedly.

Temari just sighed.

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"It's mine!" Toeboi hollered at the top of his lungs.

"No, it's mine!" Kiba shouted. "Give it back!"

Toeboi clutched the Nintendogs game possessively, and Kiba tried to pry it out of his younger brother's hands.

All the while Akamaru watched in shock.

"Hey, what's going on in here!" Hana cried, coming into the boys's room.

"He stole my Nintendogs game!" Kiba and Toeboi cried in unison.

Hana took the game and looked at it. "Actually, this is _mine_, so paws off." She said, and went back into her room leaving her younger brothers speechless. _Hana_ played video games?

The silence lasted for about five second, then...

"Then where's _my_ Nintendogs game!?"

"I dunno, but here's _mine_."

"No, that's _mine_! Give it!"

"Get away from me!"

Hana sighed.

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Garaa came back, and they all finished their tea in relative silence. Then, Beatrice asked Mallory to fetch her packages, which she did.

Beatrice handed the first one to Temari. "This was your Mother's."

"Oh, thankyou!" Temari exclaimed, holding up the gold and sapphire earrings.

"These both belonged to your Father." Beatrice said, handing Kankurou a golden gents ring, and Garaa a plain golden necklace.

"Thankyou." They both said in unison.

Beatrice even had something for Matsuri and Emma, even though she hadn't known they were coming. For Matsuri, was a lovely Mother of pearl necklace, and for Emma was rose gold, yellow gold and white gold linked bracelet.

"Thanks Mrs. Sabaku." They both said.

"Please," She said. "Call me Granny." Beatrice said.

"Oh...kay..." The two girls blinked.

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"Sakura!" Mrs. Haruno cried, when Sakura was about to leave the house. "Put a jacket on, it's cold outside!"

"No Mum, I'm fine, I've gotta run!"

"SAKURA, NOW!!"

When Mrs. Haruno used _that_ tone of voice, _everyone_ listened. Sakura went to find her furry pink jacket, grumbling as she did so.

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**INO: Sakura's a Mummy's girl, Sakura's a…OW! (Sakura just hit her) MEEEG-SAAAN!!**

**KIBA: Meg's not here.**

**INO: Well then…where is she?**

**MEG: (Not here) Deleting my directory from my Mum and Dad's computer.**

**INO: Why?**

…

**Yes, WHY!!**


	13. I’m With The Band:I Feel Left Out

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I'm With The Band - I Feel Left Out

"Battle Of The Bands, tomorrow." Ino grinned, reading the sign outside the library. "I can hardly wait, this year should be good."

"Yeah, I hope there's free food again this year!" Chouji agreed, chomping on a Snickers Bar.

"Chouji, is that _all_ you ever think about?" Mari asked, popping out of nowhere.

"Yes." He said.

"Me too." Mari had a Mars Bar.

_Those two were MADE for each other._ Ino thought.

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"I'm so nervous-I'm so nervous-I'm so nervous!" Kankurou said, the following day, before the Battle Of The Bands. He was standing backstage, staring at himself in the mirror.

Emma came up, and said: "Are you okay? Nervous?"

"Me?" Kankurou laughed (nervously). "Nah, no sweat."

"Well, here's a tip I use to calm myself down." Emma told him. "Just picture everyone in their underwear."

Kankurou stared at her. Underwear... "Uh, I don't think that's gonna work Emma!" He said, looking away.

"Sure it will," She said, giving him a quick one-armed hug. "And we'll rock!" She walked away to help Matsuri with something.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" temari said, coming up behind Kankurou.

"How could you tell?" He asked her.

"Hey, I'm your big sister." She shrugged. "I _know_ these things. Well, here's a tip I use to calm myself down."

Kankurou didn't like where this was going.

"Just picture everyone _naked_." Temari grinned at him.

Kankurou sweatdropped. Naked...

"Ah, Temari?" Kankurou said, glancing over at Emma and Matsuri.

Temari followed his gaze, and then hit him over the head with another paper fan.

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The Song Birds were up first. Each band was the perform three songs. The first of their songs was called _Going Under_. Then, they performed _Missing_ and _Bring Me To Life_.

"See, they all stuck with the same genre." Dosu whispered to Sore. "We've got it in the bag."

Anyway, Hoshi was a good singer (she could've been Amy Lee's twin) but Kiba and Shino's hearts just weren't in it.

_What's up with them?_ Ai wondered, as the Sound Ninja got ready to go onstage.

They performed well, with _Someday_, _Everybody's Gone To War_ and _Holiday_.

Then, a few more bands performed.

"I'm glad we were last." Kankurou said, as they got ready to go on. "Temari, did you have to hit me so hard?"

"Why did she hit you?" Emma wanted to know.

Kankurou tried not to look at her. "Never mind, never mind!" He said quickly.

The Sand Vibes stood onstage, and started their first song, which was called _Come On Eileen_ (wahoo, a 90's hit!)

The next song was a slow song, that went: "_You know you make me feel like a girl, and you're why I can feel like a girl, you know you show me just the way to feel so now, it seems like I'm falling..._"

The last song they sung was for Emma and Matsuri's Mum. It was called _Thankyou Mum_, and Emma was practically crying by the end of it.

But, she thought: _I have to be strong, because I'm all alone..._

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At the end of the day, the winners were announced and, no surprise, it was the Sand Vibes, but only because they really _connected_ with their songs. They were asked to play one more song and, by popular demand, they played the one they'd been practicing in the music room before the snowstorm.

...

...

...

_Tonight, such a beautiful crescent moon  
Changing every day, every night  
Shining brighter  
Just like something in our heart of bloom  
Growing every day, every night  
Shining amber_

Do you know when feel like a cat, a wild cat in the cage?  
We can not miss our time, so let's find a gateway

So we gotta wake up! wake up! who are you!  
We gotta wake up! wake up! our true soul...  
You know we shake up! shake up! how we feel  
We're crossing over the top of the season  
I show you GIRLS CAN ROCK!

Somehow, feel so much with the phase of moon  
Sensing each tide, each sight  
Getting brighter  
I have a feeling that I will meet you soon  
As I feel each tide, each night  
You are closer

I wanna have somebody to hold the wild cat at the edge?  
We all need the love to break through the old days

So we gotta wake up! wake up! who are you!  
We gotta wake up! wake up! our true soul...  
You know we shake up! shake up! how we feel  
We're getting together for special reason  
Now you know GIRLS CAN ROCK!

I'll rock'n roll  
Like no one else  
I'll rock'n roll you like never happened

So we gotta wake up! wake up! who are you!  
We gotta wake up! wake up! our true soul...  
You know we shake up! shake up! how we feel  
We're crossing over the top of the season  
I show you GIRLS CAN ROCK!

...

...

...

Everyone was dancing, and laughing, and having a great time.

Shika was watching Temari up onstage, but then Ino came up to him and asked him if he wanted to dance.

"Why? Where's Sasuke?"

"Over there. Dancing with _her_." Ino said, pointing to Sasuke and Sakura dancing. "So, how about it? Or, is it too troublesome?"

"Is Mari dancing with Chouji?"

"Or Kai, either one."

"Okay then, let's dance."

Hinata was blushing, dancing with Naruto. Kiba was dancing with Musha, but he and Naruto switched partners halfway through the song.

Sore and Dosu sat back on chairs, and watched Zaku and Ai dance.

Mushi danced with Shino, Kin danced with Lee, and Sai danced with Tenten.

Tenten was watching Neji, who was watching Emma.

_Emma looks so cool up there._

"Hey, Neji, wanna dance with me?" Hoshi asked him.

"No." He told her.

Hoshi felt like her world had been shattered. Nobody liked her. She didn't love Neji or anything, but she'd noticed that he was all alone so...

Hoshi left the building and walked out into the evening.

_I have to be strong, because I'm all alone..._ She thought.

OoO

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**MEG: Kankurou is a per…**

**KANKUROU: (Still staring)**

**TEMARI: (Approaching with fan) I'm sorry I ever told him that…**

**POW! WHACK! THUD!**

**MEG: Uh…Temari-Nee-San? I think that you…killed him…**

**TEMARI: Eep!**

**ZAKU: Please R&R everybody, or else Temari will whack you!**


	14. Birthday Surprises:Tears

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Birthday Surprises - Tears

"Happy birthday to me..." Matsuri sung softly, as she and Emma rode on the train into the city. She was having an okay birthday so far. Her parents had made her bacon and eggs, but Emma had been mysteriously Not There that morning, and had met Matsuri at the train station. Matsuri didn't mind, much. She knew her sister must have an excellent reason for not being there.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Emma said, holding up an S&E book. "We have to meet Sasuke. I borrowed his economics book last week and forgot to give it back to him."

"Oh, okay then." Matsuri said, and they got off at McGuiver or whatever it was (Mclever) and walked a short ways to where Emma said Sasuke's house was.

"Ah, sis?" Matsuri said, stopping outside the gates. "I doubt Sasuke Uchiha lives at Ventura World..."

"I doubt it too!" Emma grinned, and then people came out of hiding, shouting along with her: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATSURI!!"

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Matsuri had never been so surprised in her life! She began thanking people, but everyone told her it had been her sister and the Sabakus, especially Garaa, and well that just made Matsuri's day!

"Come on," Sasuke said, stepping forward and taking Matsuri's hand. "There's a rollercoaster in there with our names on it!"

Emma let Sasuke lead Matsuri inside (they'd already paid) and everyone else followed.

She and the Sabakus tagged along behind. "I didn't know _he_ was coming." Garaa whispered to Emma.

"_I_ invited him." Emma replied. "What's the big deal Garaa?"

He just shrugged.

"So, who didn't come?" Emma asked, turning towards Kankurou.

"Little Miss Sunshine, aka Hoshi." Kankurou replied, secretly grateful. "So, we've go some extra money..."

"Great!" Matsuri cried, running back towards the money, grabbing it and zipping off towards the gift shops.

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"If I see another rollercoaster," Naruto groaned, as the gang made their way towards the lunch area. "Then I'm gonna toss cookies..."

"Just like last year, aye Naruto?" Sakura grinned, and everyone else laughed.

"I suggest we have lunch before we try the water rides!" Lee said, and everyone else voted 'aye' for that. Chouji voted 'aye-aye' and so did Mari.

The crowd trooped into the lunch area, and placed their orders, coming over to the four tables with hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, chicken, salads and drinks.

Afterwards, Matsuri got to open her presents.

"Thankyou!" She cried, when Sakura got her a new blouse.

"Umm...thanks..." She said, when Naruto got her free ramen tickets.

"Oh, cool!" She exclaimed, unwrapping a new set of nail-polishes from Ino.

"Umm...okay..." She said, holding up the cactus from Kai.

"It's name is Bob." He said helpfully, and Matsuri set 'Bob' down on the table.

"Now Matsuri," Emma said. "I bet you think nothing's gonna top that cactus...well, here's _my_ present to _you_." She handed Matsuri a package, which Matsuri opened.

"OMIGOSH!! EMMA, THANKS!!" Matsuri shrieked, hugging her sister fiercely.

Everyone else just sweatdropped, staring at the hand-sewn Garaa plushie.

When Emma sat back down again, Garaa whispered to her: "I'm gonna kill you."

She just smiled at him. "Bite me." She replied.

Suddenly, Matsuri handed _Emma_ a package, and said: "Happy _early_ birthday, sis!"

Emma unwrapped the package, which turned out to be a familiar-looking hourglass headband.

"To remind you of home." Matsuri explained, when Emma hugged her. "I felt bad about breaking your other one."

Suddenly, a waiter came out with a cake, and everyone else began singing happy birthday to Matsuri _and_ Emma...because that's what the cake said!

"Surprise!" All of Emma's friends and her sister shouted, holding out _more_ gifts, and it was Emma's turn to be speechless, and then start thanking everybody.

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"I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life." Mari said, when the day was through and everyone was getting ready to leave.

"I don't think _those_ two have ever had so much fun." Kai added, pointing to Matsuri and Garaa, who were taking one last turn on _The Megadrop_.

"Who knows? There's hope for those two yet!" Emma said happily.

"Emma?" Somebody said from behind her, and she turned around to see Neji.

"Yeah?"

He whispered something in her ear, and she grinned. "Oh yes, let's!"

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"Where's Emma?" Kankurou asked, when he came back from the can (where else?).

"She uh..." Temari said evasively. "Wanted to take one last turn on _Splash Mania_ with...uh...Neji..."

Kankurou frowned.

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Hoshi wished she had've gone to the outing that day. It would've been more fun then staying at home by herself, because both of her parents were at work.

Unaccustomed tears leaked from her violet eyes, and she sobbed into her hands.

So, she didn't hear when the news said: "To repeat, the terrorist organization known as Akatsuki is back in Konoha, so if you see them, please call the police immediately..."

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**MEG: OH MY LORD!! TERRORISTS!! THE AKATSUKI!! NOOOOOOOO!!**

**KIBA: Get a hold of yourself Meg-San!!**

**MEG: I caaaaan't!!**

**R&R: Please R&R peoples! Or the Akatsuki will kill you!!**

**GARAA: Sand Coffin!**

**R&R: (Now dead)**

**KANKUROU: Or my homicidal little brother will.**

**MEG: I thought you were dead.**

**EMMA: No he's not, unfortunately.**

**KANKUROU: (Did die when Emma said that)**

**EMMA: Oops...**


	15. School Under Siege:Teeth

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

School Under Siege - Teeth

"Bring your pet to school day is so lame." Chouji complained.

"You're only saying that because your goldfish died last week." Ino replied.

Chouji sniffed. "Poor Fishfingers!" He said.

Ino sweatdropped.

Around their classroom was:

Akamaru, Kiba's faithful pooch.

Jaws, Emma's parrot.

Spud, Matsuri's cat.

Takamaru, the Sabaku siblings's hawk.

Pinku, Sakura's pink dove.

Jiles, Zaku's marine iguana. (That's what I wanna be reincarnated as).

Chaz, the Kinuta and Kaguya hamster.

Gup, Kai's black pug dog.

Eevee, Hinata's white rabbit.

Jodie, Tenten's ferret.

And Slakoff, Shika's three-toed sloth called an Ai (the human Ai approved).

And then, Sasuke walked into the room with a black panther on a leash and chain.

"OOOHHH!!" Everyone cried.

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The pet day thing was _just_ getting underway, when an explosion rocked the school.

"Oh my Lord!" Ino cried.

"Squawk, we're all gonna die, save yourselves!" Jaws cried. "Parrots and women first, squawk!"

"Attention students," Tsunade said over the PA system. "This is a Code Alpha, and this is NOT a drill!"

Code Alpha?

ARMED INTRUDER!!

"Emma's out there!" Matsuri cried.

Emma had gone to the library.

"So are Kankurou, Neji and Kakashi!" Mari added.

"The teacher's gone, we're all gonna die!" Chouji echoed Jaws.

'We're all gonna die!" Jaws repeated (well, it _is_ his job to parrot things...)

Naruto dived under a desk.

Nobody noticed when Sasuke and his panther, Shadow, left the room.

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Emma was running. She knew how bad it was to be outside with a Code Alpha going on - especially when it _wasn't_ a drill.

She suddenly ran straight into someone, someone wearing black and red. He grabbed her and held his hand over her mouth.

His name was Hidan, the Jashinist of the Akatsuki Terrorist Group.

"Looks like we've got a kid who _should_ be in class now!" Hidan said. "And a cute one at that!"

Emma's eyes flashed, and she moved her mouth. In a second she had bitten him.

Emma has the world's sharpest set of fangs, even sharper then Kiba's, and so when she bit, she drew blood. Hidan howled and jumped back He reached for his gun, but Emma was already off and sprinting down the hallway like a marathon runner.

She is _not_ going to get shot!

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Kankurou and Neji were the next people she ran into, and she looked terrible.

"I just got caught by terrorist!" Emma panted, leaning on Kankurou's shoulder for support. "It's the Akatsuki! I think it was Hidan!"

"That means Itachi's here too." Neji said.

"Who's he?" Kankurou snapped.

Neji looked at the ground, and then he looked right at Emma. "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else outside of this school, not even your parents."

"Right." Emma nodded.

"Itachi is Sasuke Uchiha's older brother."

"Oh." Said Emma and Kankurou. "_That_ would explain a lot..."

"He even killed their parents." Neji added.

Suddenly, Emma gasped. Not because of what Neji had just said, but because Sasori and Deidara had just come around a corner.

The three students began running, but not fast enough. Neji got shot on the shoulder.

"NEJI!!" Emma screamed, as blood splashed across the hallway and Neji collapsed.

"I've got him!" Kankurou cried, grabbing Neji quickly. "Just keep heading for..."

"Ebisu's office is the closest!" Emma shuddered, but kept on running. Kankurou followed, with Neji.

Deidara and Sasori were not far behind them.

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Sasuke and Shadow prowled the halls of Konoha High, knowing full well the two reasons why the Akatsuki were here.

One was Hinata, the rich Hyuga heiress. If they kidnapped Hinata…hey, were they terrorists or kidnapers!?

The other was him. The younger brother of the terrorist, Itachi. It had been his burden to carry with him since primary school, and that's why he'd moved away. He'd had a lot of trouble dealing with his family's death, and Itachi was to blame.

When Sasuke had heard that the Akatsuki were back, they knew he'd be coming for them, and he knew he'd have to face Itachi sooner or later.

Sasuke was NOT supposed to have lived. Itachi had wanted to kill him, but Sasuke had gotten away.

It made him feel like Harry Potter.

Anyway, Sasuke hoped Hinata would be safe in the classroom. As for him…well, it was time for him to face Itachi.

"Hey, I know who you are!" Said a voice from behind him.

Sasuke turned around.

It was Kisame (I'm not even going to bother describing him for you, you know how weird…uh – Kisame is glaring at me – cool he looks).

"Kisame." Sasuke said, in a low, dangerous voice.

"Yes, you're Itachi's brother…" Kisame seemed to be trying to remember something.

Sasuke decided to help him out here. "I…" he said slowly. "Escaped…"

"That's it!" Kisame exclaimed. "You escaped from Itachi, when he killed…"

"What is going on here?" A woman with blue hair came around the corner, but baulked when she saw Sasuke. "Hey, it's the brat!" She exclaimed.

"Aye, Konan." Kisame grinned. "Fetch Itachi, will ya."

"No need," Said Konan's partner, Pein. "Itachi is already here."He had just come around another corner, and Itachi Uchiha was with him.

Sasuke was surrounded.

Shadow began to growl softly.

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**MEG: Itachi-Kun, don****'t you dare!**

**KISAME: He's going to.**

**MEG: Itachi-Kun!!**

**KONAN: Here he goes...**

**ITACHI: (Eats the last chocolate-covered pretzel)**

**MEG: Nooooooo!!**

**SASUKE: Meg-San, stop whinging, we'll buy you another chocolate-covered pretzel!**

**MEG: (Crying) But I wanted THAT one...**

**R&R: (Still dead)**


End file.
